About National Anti-Profiteering Authority (NAA)

• Soon after the GST was rolled out from 1 July 2017, the government had approved setting up of the NAA for two years.
• NAA is a statutory body constituted under the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 to check the unfair profit-making activities by the trading community.
• The Authority’s core function is to ensure that the benefits of the reduction in GST rates on goods or services made by the GST Council is passed on to the ultimate consumers by way of a reduction in prices by traders.
• NAA examines and checks such profiteering activities and recommends punitive actions including cancellation of Registration.

Timeline

• Initially, it was set up for two years till 2019, but was later extended till November 2021.
• The GST Council, in September last year, gave another one-year extension till November, 2022, to NAA and also decided to shift the work to Competition Commission of India (CCI) after that.

Why in News ?  

• The Competition Commission of India has replaced the National Anti-profiteering Authority and will look into the anti-profiteering measures under the Goods and Services Tax from December 1.

About CCI

• The Competition Commission of India is a statutory body established under the Competition Act, 2002 for the administration, implementation and enforcement of the Act.
• CCI consists of a Chairperson and 6 Members appointed by the Central Government.
• The following are the objectives of the Commission.
  • To prevent practices having adverse effects on competition
  • To promote and sustain competition in markets
  • To protect the interests of consumers and
  • To ensure freedom of trade.
• The Commission is also required to give opinion on competition issues on a reference received from a statutory authority established under any law and to undertake competition advocacy, create public awareness and impart training on competition issues.
• Appeals of CCI lie with the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal. 

Reference:

https://www.naa.gov.in/page.php?id=about-naa